GSA Seeks Facebookers to Improve Social Media Timeline

They may not have the popularity of Facebook, but Gov 2.0 initiatives are making milestones. And now the feds are crowd-sourcing to meet and make new goals.

David McClure, an associate administrator of the General Services Administration, presented a timeline of social media in government on a blog post on GSA’s citizen-engagement website.

ReadWriteWeb describes Gov 2.0 as any combination of social media, open data, wikis and online videos, all of which have the ability — if used smartly — to “make government work better,” and operate more transparently.

“Gov 2.0 is like any social network- it’s always changing, can be both difficult and rewarding, and occasionally get pretty hairy,” McClure, who works for the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, wrote in his blog posting.

The social media timeline shows “a rapidly accelerating ride – as more and more interest comes from the White House and, more importantly, the American public,” McClure said,“to increase the reach and effectiveness of engaging and communicating with government.”

Some timeline highlights:

• The first government YouTube Channel (The Small Business Administration’s went live in 2005)
• Whitehouse.gov’s redesign using open-source software (October 2009)
• Twitter alerts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about severe weather (July 2010)
• Twitter alerts about Haiti relief efforts from the State and Defense Departments. (January 2010).

But the timeline doesn’t end there, McClure said and he invites readers to “improve, share and collaborate” on the timeline.

Those with a knack for social media can do so at blog.citizen.apps.gov